Time on my own

I spend quite a lot of time on my own. Sometimes I feel like a saddo - not really going out for days and quite enjoying it. These days, with the sciatic nerve thing going on, it's a bit more enforced however.

I've just had a week on my own though and it was a slightly different matter. The Ball & Chain and 12 year old went skiing as it was the school half term thing. I had to cancel - it's hard to ski when you can barely walk. Plus, I think my orthopedic surgeon would have fired me.

So, with 8 days ahead, I started planning all the things I would get done round the house. I actually managed to achieve some of them too. Made an arm cover for the family room sofa; the fabric on the arm had worn so much from people perching on it, that it looked like a completely different colo(u)r. I cut up one of the far-too-many cushions it came with a re-purposed it. Given that I was on a limited amount of fabric and a mistake would have been a disaster, I fashioned one out of kitchen roll/paper towel first. You're supposed to do it with muslin, but hey the paper worked.

I then set about with wood filler. Yes, you read that correctly. For some reason we have large chucks missing in some of our skirting boards (base boards). I was going to retouch some of the woodwork anyway, but you can't really paint over holes in it can you? It wasn't really that hard to do, and with some fine grain sandpaper and a tack cloth, I managed most of them. Unfortunately, getting down to a sitting position on the floor proved too much aggravation for the old sciatica so there are a few unsanded bits, which will have to wait till after we do the steroid injection later this week. (Assuming it works.)

The strange thing though (about being on my own 24/7) was there was no punctuation at all. No 12 year old coming home at 3.30pm, no one to cook dinner for so I could eat what and when I liked, no laundry to do and I think I only emptied the dishwasher once. I was alone - but not lonely, just off kilter. I did however, still have to get up to let the dog out, which I could have done without. One of the great luxuries in life I believe, is being able to sleep later than 7am.

Oh well.

And now, they're back and there's a pile of laundry and I have to think of something to make for dinner, and try to re-arrange the orthodontist appointment and............